The Great Unknown
by CitrusCactus
Summary: Adventure/02: It all started with a question that had sounded innocent enough. Taishiro.


**"The Great Unknown"**

**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure/02  
**Genre:** General/Romance  
**Summary:** It all started with a question that had sounded innocent enough. Taishiro.  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Fluff and boykissing  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon, I just really like it. Some might say a little _too_ much.

* * *

It all started with a question that had sounded innocent enough.

"Hey Kou. You wanna go to the Digital World?"

The diligent rhythm of fingers hitting the keyboard paused momentarily as Koushiro pulled up his calendar. "Let's see... it doesn't look like we're due to go back for a few days," he said, examining the Chosen Children's shared schedule carefully. "We weren't there all that long ago, and given the current rotation, our next patrol won't be until the middle of next week."

"I didn't mean on patrol. I meant just... you know, _go_. For fun."

The keys had gone silent again, the steady _clack, clack, clack_ supplanted by the faint creak of a chair as Koushiro turned around to look at Taichi. The older boy was lounging on Koushiro's bed and listlessly turning the pages of a textbook. When he saw Koushiro had turned to face him, he grinned back hopefully.

"Taichi-san, shouldn't you be studying?" It was Taichi's final year of junior high school, and his entrance exams (Koushiro had to keep reminding him) were only a few months away.

Taichi groaned and flopped down onto the bedspread, face first. "Aww, c'mooon, Kou! I've spent every waking moment since August obsessing over homework or killing myself over cram school or out in the Digital World looking for new problems! And you—" he turned his head to look at Koushiro again, his voice suddenly unmuffled. "If anything, you're worse than I am! Don't you think we could both use a break?"

Koushiro considered this. Even though he and Taichi did manage to see each other fairly often these days, it was a testament to how busy they had been that they rarely had time for anything besides work and study. Not that they weren't able to find moments of peace every now and then: walks to and from school, the occasional movie with the other Chosen Children, or nights like tonight, when Taichi was probably going to be here late enough that Koushiro's parents would insist that he stay for dinner— but somehow, none of those were the same as what the other boy was suggesting. The thought of spending time alone with Taichi when neither of them were trying to be productive, far removed from the presence of classmates, other friends, and adults sounded— well, it sounded _nice._

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take the rest of the afternoon off," he admitted, returning Taichi's haphazard smile with a small one of his own. "Although I can't say the Digital World would be my first choice for a place to relax. Did you have anywhere specific in mind?"

Taichi sat up, thinking hard for a few moments before an idea seemed to occur to him. "Actually, yeah," he said, his face lighting up with excitement. "I think I do."

With a few clicks of the mouse, Koushiro called up their working map of the Digital World, and Taichi had bounded off the bed, crossed the room, and leaned in over Koushiro's shoulder to get a closer look. "Let's see, which one was it? Oh yeah... here." He pointed to a single square along the northeastern edge of a large area of white pixels surrounded by grey, a section right on the boundary of what the Chosen Children as a whole considered to be known territory. Koushiro raised a questioning eyebrow.

"It's fine, really!" Taichi said, guessing what he was thinking. "Sora'n me found it a couple of weeks ago. We checked it out really thoroughly, and didn't find anything more dangerous than a couple of laid-back Kiwimon. You can ask her or Piyomon if you want a second opinion."

"No, no— I believe you," Koushiro said, continuing to smile. "But still, we should probably ask Tentomon and Agumon to meet us there, just to be safe."

Taichi nodded in agreement, already halfway across the room again. "You call them, and I'll try to find my digivice."

While Taichi rummaged around in his bag, Koushiro turned back to the computer screen. He sent a message to Tentomon and Agumon giving them the coordinates, then penned a brief note to his mother in case she came home and decided to check on them. There was already a small part of him that was starting to doubt his motives for wanting to go on this particular adventure. Of course, he and Taichi were friends, there was no question about that— and any time they got to go to the Digital World together almost always ended up as the highlight of Koushiro's week. But if he was being truly honest with himself, Koushiro knew he also had spent the last several months trying to figure out whether or not his feelings for Taichi really stopped at what most people would consider normal, platonic friendship. The idea that he almost certainly felt something _more_ for the brown-haired boy seemed to hang over him no matter what he did these days, flitting in and out of his subconscious at random intervals, or worse, pressing down on him with all the weight of an intractable, unsolvable problem— one that also happened to make his heart race and his skin prickle with heat.

Koushiro exhaled, opening the top drawer of his desk and feeling past jewel cases and carefully coiled network cables for his digivice. Even if he _was_ willing to admit that he had some romantic interest in the other boy, he really had no idea what to do about it. How did one go about _telling_ a person something like that, and what would Taichi's reaction be if he did? It was an equation with too many variables, one great big unknown— and besides, the last thing he wanted was to risk hurting their friendship. No, it really was best that he keep these thoughts to himself, and try not to dwell on them in the hours to come. He lifted his digivice out of the drawer and turned back to his monitor. By the time he had pulled up a window containing a Digital Gate, Taichi was by his side again, his own digivice in one hand and, surprisingly, Koushiro's coat in the other.

"Here," he said, handing the coat to Koushiro. "It's not really cold there, but this'll be nice to have." Koushiro took it and put it on, now more than a little curious about their final destination.

"Ready?" Taichi asked. Koushiro barely had time to nod in reply before Taichi's fingers closed around his wrist, and he felt himself pulled gently to his feet. Taichi grinned, giving Koushiro's hand a reassuring squeeze and holding his digivice up to the computer screen. "Well, here's hoping."

Koushiro did the same, reflexively gripping both his digivice and Taichi's hand a little tighter in the process. It had taken some time, but the six oldest Chosen Children had eventually figured out how to open gates to the Digital World without the aid of a D3. While it was still an extremely difficult feat for any of them to achieve reliably on their own, the odds of success were greatly improved if the attempt was made as a pair, and particularly if that pair also maintained some form of physical contact with each other.

Koushiro took a few deep breaths, trying to clear his mind for the immediate task ahead. Holding hands was just supposed to make the process easier (even if it often made things more difficult, in Koushiro's case). The true catalyst had to do with the strength of a person's desire to enter the other world, and their ability to refine that desire into concrete thoughts and feelings to use as a focal point.

_I want to go to the Digital World so I can learn more about it, _Koushiro thought, reciting the mantra that usually worked so well for him. _I want to find answers, uncover more mysteries, and discover things we don't even know about yet. _Of course, it was possible that "usual" wasn't going to work this time. The nature of this trip was a bit different from the norm; more for pleasure than for business, and that fact alone was enough to give him pause.

Unable to stop himself, Koushiro turned his head to glance at his friend. He could see the steady rise and fall of the other boy's chest, the look of determined concentration on his face. Standing there, Koushiro couldn't help but wonder what Taichi was choosing to focus on in this particular moment, and as he did, a new series of thoughts began to take shape in his head.

_I want to explore someplace new,_ he told himself with renewed conviction. _I want to see things in the Digital World I've never seen before, and find out whatever I can in order to help our two worlds. And— _ Koushiro felt a twinge of guilt as he latched on to a new reason, one that he felt just as deeply and honestly, even if it did seem a great deal more self-serving— _and, I want to be there to experience it with Taichi-san._

Koushiro heard the synthesized trill that meant the gate had opened, and suddenly light from the screen was filling his vision, so bright he had to close his eyes. He felt a familiar tug on the arm that held his digivice. That tug became a pull, which turned into a feeling of weightlessness as he felt his feet leave the floor of his bedroom. He had two very distinct impressions then, of being suddenly aware of every nerve in his body while simultaneously realizing his body didn't really feel like a body at all anymore, only the very vague idea of one. He could sense a faint humming all around him, what he always liked to imagine as the sound of a billion tiny transistors firing at once, the almost imperceptible pulse of electrical signals carrying him down a neverending stream of bits and bytes into the other world. And then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over: his body became his own again, the humming dissipated in his ears, and his feet resolved onto solid ground once more.

He opened his eyes.

He and Taichi were standing in the middle of a bright forest clearing. Even though the Digital World didn't have seasons in the strictest sense, the place Taichi had chosen for their excursion was doing a perfect imitation of a warm and sunny autumn day. The trees towered above them, some at least 30 meters tall, their foliage a riotous firework display of color. Yellows, oranges, reds, and browns blazed all around them, made even more brilliant against a backdrop of vividly blue, cloudless sky. Leaves of every shape and size twisted in the breeze: some broad and scalloped; some long, smooth, and narrow; still others that were small and rounded and seemed to flutter overhead like tiny butterflies. Every now and then one would part from its branch, spiraling slowly downward to join its fellows, creating a shallow, multicolored carpet on the hardpacked forest floor.

"It's beautiful," Koushiro said in amazement.

Taichi gazed appreciatively at the sun-splashed canopy over their heads. "Isn't it? After we found it, I came back a few days later, and both times the leaves looked just like this. Makes me wonder if these trees are ever bare, or if it's just always fall here."

"An area of the Digital World in a state of perpetual seasonal change?" Koushiro asked, intrigued. "We've never encountered anything like that before— if that were the case, it would be completely unprecedented!"

Taichi looked at him, grinning broadly. "I knew you'd like it," he said.

Koushiro took a few steps out of the center of the clearing, still trying to take in as many details as possible. With the sun trickling down on them and only a slight breeze, he was warm enough to be comfortable, but true to the forest's form there was a slight chill in the air that made him grateful for Taichi's suggestion that they bring jackets. His eyes moved around the circle of trees, noting the sparse brush and gaps between trunks that formed several natural trails leading out to the rest of the forest. Every few meters, he could see clusters of rusty and dented road signs, looking just as natural as if they had grown there, sprouting up from out of the ground like so many sunflowers. Koushiro smiled.

"Like the ones we saw on File Island," he said, remembering their first full day in the Digital World all those years ago.

Taichi saw where he was looking and laughed. "I thought that, too. I wonder if they could be the same ones."

Koushiro was tempted to pull out his laptop and start collecting data before he remembered he hadn't brought it, and then realized it didn't matter. "It's difficult to say," he mused. "We'll have to come back another time so I can run some tests."

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to." There was an oddly contented expression on Taichi's face as he said those words, but Koushiro didn't have time to figure out what it meant. The air was suddenly filled with the buzz of rapidly moving wings. A rough voice was calling their names, and then Agumon was crashing excitedly through the bushes, with Tentomon flying into the clearing just behind him. Koushiro waved at the pair of them, feeling as if some missing piece of his heart had just been returned to him. No matter how often they saw their digimon partners these days, it always felt a bit like coming home any time they were reunited.

After they had all said their greetings to one another, Taichi and Agumon started to skirt the edge of the trees, examining their options for leaving the clearing. After a bit of discussion they came to an agreement, and beckoned the other two over. "C'mon, let's go this way," Taichi said, sticking his hands in his pockets and inclining his head to indicate a particularly large gap in the trees. "We're pretty sure we haven't seen what's down here yet." Koushiro and Tentomon followed, and soon the four of them had set off to explore this new wilderness together.

With no end goal in mind and no schedule to keep, the party walked slowly, shuffling through the leaves and following their feet wherever it suited them. Koushiro made frequent detours to examine interesting-looking trees, occasionally soliciting Tentomon for his opinion. Taichi, eager to burn off the extra energy that too much studying and not enough soccer had given him, found a large stick and started swinging it like a sword, which was as much for Agumon's enjoyment as his own. This flurry of activity culminated when Taichi took a particularly heroic leap into a nearby bush, inadvertently startling a nearby herd of Prairiemon in the process. The digimon, rabbit-like except for their sharp claws and the fact that they were as big as cars, came stampeding out the brush almost directly on top of them, giving them all such a shock that they couldn't help but laugh about it afterward.

After things had calmed down, they continued to travel in more or less in one direction for the next several minutes, and the longer they walked, the more Koushiro thought he could see why Taichi had wanted to come here. The forest was a huge expanse of unexplored territory, easy enough to access for a casual hike but impenetrable enough that it felt like new sights and discoveries could be waiting for them around any corner. That was one of the things Koushiro liked about being around Taichi. Going on an excursion like this felt so natural, so comfortable. They both loved the feeling of discovering something new.

He glanced backward. Tentomon and Agumon were walking a few meters behind them, huddled together and talking quietly. Koushiro had noticed them doing this fairly often these past few months, and briefly wondered what they could be discussing. When Agumon ran ahead to ask Taichi something, Koushiro hung back to wait for his partner.

"Having a good time?" he asked him.

"Of course," Tentomon said. "It's nice to be able to relax every now and then. Wouldn't you agree?"

Koushiro put his hands in his pockets and looked admiringly at their surroundings again. The sun was filtering down on them from the trees above, suffusing everything with a radiant golden glow. He could feel the air moving around him, ruffling his hair, whispering through the branches overhead, filling his ears the sound of rustling leaves. "You know something?" he said, smiling serenely. "I think I do."

"I'm glad," came the reply. Koushiro examined the little insect's face. Even though Tentomon's expressions were markedly hard to read, Koushiro could tell there was something significant in the look his partner was giving him.

"Do you want to talk?" Koushiro asked. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"Oh, it's not any one thing in particular," Tentomon said. His voice had a deliberately slow, slightly amused quality to it. "It's just... it _is_ a really nice day for a walk, isn't it, Koushiro-han?"

Koushiro nodded. There was really no arguing with that. He took a deep breath, letting the sweet, musty smell of dried leaves fill his nostrils, exhaling in a contented sigh. Here, in the tranquility of the forest and warm autumn afternoon, it was surprisingly easy to be at peace with the world. Whatever thoughts he might be having, whatever he wished his relationship with Taichi could be, they were of little consequence here. He and Taichi were friends, and as long as they were able to share moments like this, Koushiro was happy, no matter what else the future might have in store.

Eventually, Agumon and Tentomon decided to wander off together in search of some nut-producing trees that Agumon remembered from his last visit. Koushiro watched them disappear into the forest, but he wasn't worried— even if they were out of sight, he knew the digimon didn't like to stray very far. If necessary, they were only a shout away, which was a comforting thought to both human and digimon partners alike.

The two boys continued to poke around the forest at their leisure, balancing on logs, overturning rocks, kicking up leaves and lingering over tree stumps. They were walking side-by-side now, exchanging a few brief thoughts but for the most part content to remain silent, not feeling the need to disturb their surroundings with unnecessary words. At one point, Koushiro veered off course, kneeling down to examine the exposed roots of a tall and imposing tree a little more closely. He remained there, momentarily lost in thought, until the rustle of footsteps nearby brought him out of his reverie. He turned his head and saw Taichi standing a few paces behind him, watching him carefully.

"What is it?" Koushiro asked, politely curious.

Taichi continued to look at him, the trace of a smile on his face. "Nothing," he said, shrugging. "I just like watching you think."

Koushiro picked up a large golden leaf from where it lay at his feet. "I can't recall ever seeing some of these trees in the Digital World before," he said, running it between his thumb and forefinger. "We have a record of all the different digimon we've encountered, but not any of the other flora and fauna. I was just thinking that it might be a good idea to start categorizing them as well." He was suddenly aware of the wind on his face, the smell of the forest, the soft chatter of leaves all around them, and the fact that it was becoming more and more difficult to stay focused on things like bark texture and root systems while the other boy was staring at him so intently.

Koushiro stood up, turning on the spot and letting the leaf slip through his fingers so he could brush off the knees of his trousers with both hands. "I think I'm done here," he said. He found it was much easier to look at the ground in front of Taichi's shoes than into the other boy's face. "Shall we—"

"I really like you, Koushiro."

It was a simple statement, unadorned and abrupt, but in that moment, everything seemed to change. Koushiro's head jerked up, the rest of his body still frozen in place. The breeze seemed to die down, causing the entire forest to settle into a hushed stillness. Even the air in his lungs had stopped, his breath caught incredulously in his throat.

"T-Taichi-san," he stammered. "What...?"

Taichi saw the look on Koushiro's face and dropped his gaze, shaking his head and smiling ruefully to himself. "Aah, I've gone and ruined it, haven't I? I had to go and say something stupid. I dunno what came over me. I just thought... well, even if you don't feel the same way, I thought you should know how I feel about you."

The older boy sighed.

"I would have been fine with things staying the way they were. I was happy knowing I could just be in the same room with you, at school or hanging out or studying, whatever it took so long as I got to see a little bit of you every day. But then sometimes I'll look at you, and it gets so that I can't seem to think straight, and I just... I start to want to be _with_ you— no distractions, no people, no computers, just _you_, all to myself. That's..." He trailed off, laughing nervously. "Wow, is that love? It ends up sounding pretty selfish when I say it that way, huh?"

Koushiro's lungs seemed to be working again. He drew a few experimental breaths, quick and shallow, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. "Taichi-san..." All the words he'd been holding back for the past several months were welling up inside him and threatening to spill out all at once. "What you said is_ not_ stupid. And, I don't know, maybe it _is_ selfish, but even so, I think... I think that's exactly the same way I feel about you."

Taichi looked up, taken aback. "Really?"

Koushiro nodded. His heart was thundering in his chest. "Yes, Taichi-san, I..."

"No, wait— please," Taichi said, taking a few steps forward so that he was standing painfully, obviously, wonderfully close. "Can't it be just 'Taichi' from now on? I mean..." He looked at Koushiro uncertainly. "Y'know, only if you want, but I don't think there was ever a time when you needed to be that formal with me."

"Oh, um— all right, Taichi, I suppose I can try." Leaving off the honorific made the syllables of Taichi's name feel different on Koushiro's tongue; strange, but no less familiar. "I, um... I guess I've felt that way about you for a long time, but I had no idea that you... even if I had, um..." He paused, still unsure of how to express himself. "So much for the Crest of Knowledge," he said, smiling through his wrong-footedness. "I guess it helps explain some of the looks Tentomon has been giving me, anyway."

Taichi gave a self-depreciating chuckle. "Yeah, well— Courage, remember? To tell you the truth, I think Agumon's been expecting me to just come out and say it for a long time. At least I got around to it eventually."

"I've been wanting to say something for a long time too," Koushiro said, feeling the tips of his ears burn. "It's just... it was important to me that... I didn't want to stop being friends. I still don't want anything to happen that might ruin that."

"I don't want that to happen either," Taichi said, looking relieved and scared and somehow more vulnerable than Koushiro had seen him in a long time. "All I know is that I want you to be happy, and if I've gone and messed that up, I'm gonna do my best to make it up to you, whatever it takes. I know I didn't really think this whole thing through, but it's how I feel. And if you feel that way too, well... I'd like to think… maybe we could actually make it work."

Koushiro considered Taichi's words, weighing them against everything he had ever hoped and feared about a relationship with his best friend. "You know, I'm pretty sure we _could_ make it work," he said at last, raising his head to meet the other boy's eye. "And if you feel the same way, it seems like we should at least give it a try, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it does," Taichi said. "But, really... you know, if you ever get tired of me—"

Koushiro looked into those soft brown eyes, and couldn't help laughing just a little. "How could you think something like that would happen?" he asked earnestly. "If there's one thing I've learned from being around you, Yagami Taichi, is that life is never boring. Everything is an adventure. And somehow," he said, smiling shyly. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of that."

"Koushiro," Taichi said. He was shaking his head again, but this time with a look of amazed disbelief. "I never thought I'd be lucky enough to hear you say something like that to me."

The air seemed to shiver.

"Taichi, I—"

And suddenly, Taichi was leaning forward, his lips pressing steadily into Koushiro's, and for the second time that day Koushiro was overcome with the feeling of weightlessness and being only vaguely aware of his body, even though every one of his nerves was alive and buzzing with millions of tiny electrical signals sending this flood of new sensations to his brain. He was being carried away on a current, by the bend of Taichi's body, the feeling of their noses smashed together, the tendrils of hair tickling his face, and he thought he _might_ be kissing back but he couldn't be sure, because he could also be in shock, or delirious, or dreaming— but no. Taichi was there, and his lips were warm, and everything smelled faintly of leaves and wilderness and wind…

"Sorry," Taichi said, pulling back in a single flustered motion and sounding truly embarrassed for the first time that afternoon. "That was maybe too soon. I uh, _really_ didn't think this through."

Koushiro was still trying to process everything that had just happened. He could feel the memory of Taichi's lips on his own, and even with his mind reeling, he was pretty sure some part of him was starting to understand how wonderful and intoxicating it had been, and maybe even just a bit too brief. "It's all right," he said finally, breaking into a small smile. "Although before we do too much more of that, I should probably get used to calling you 'just Taichi' first."

Taichi laughed, looking relieved. "I'm pretty sure that can be arranged."

Koushiro took a few steps back, realizing he must be blushing furiously. The forest seemed to ring with all that had passed between them in the span of those few minutes. It was he who broke the silence.

"Maybe we should um... start looking for Tentomon and Agumon. You know, tell them the news."

Taichi nodded, still looking a bit uncertain. "Yeah. But, I don't know... then what? I mean, what happens now? With us, I mean— where exactly do we go from here?"

Koushiro looked at the other boy and smiled reassuringly. "If I had to guess," he said, threading his fingers through Taichi's and leading him gently down the path, "I'd say that from now on, we go pretty much anywhere we want."

And the two of them walked off together, hand-in-hand into the great unknown.

_~Fin._

* * *

_Author's Note:_ _This fic was inspired by at least two pieces of fanart and one ridiculously nice week of autumn weather that my little area of the world experienced this past year. Also, it's the first Digimon fic I've written where I didn't feel like I had to set it in the dub universe, which was a refreshing change of pace. I just hope I was able to do it justice!_

_Comments, critiques, and discussion about your favorite trees in autumn are always welcome.  
_


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